U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,795,037, 4,593,961, and 4,509,099 show electrical connectors of a type which in general comprise an elastomeric body having conductors extending through the body for engagement with terminal areas or pads on the opposed surfaces of parallel spaced-apart substrates such as circuit boards. When the substrates are clamped to each other with the connector sandwiched between the opposed surfaces and with the conductors in the connector in alignment with opposed terminal pads, the terminal pads on the two surfaces are selectively connected to each other. There is frequently a need for connectors of this type for connecting opposed terminal pads or other electrodes on opposed surfaces, and this need has been met in the past by elastomeric type connecting devices.
There are circumstances where the elastomeric type, however, is not suitable for connecting opposed electrodes on parallel opposed surfaces, for example, where a relatively high contact force is required, and/or the particular advantages of elastomeric connectors are not required. In general, elastomeric connectors do not achieve a relatively high contact force and they are usually employed where the contact pads on the substrates are gold plated as in microelectronic devices. If the electrodes, such as the terminal pads, are plated with a lead-tin alloy rather than with gold, a significantly higher contact force is required than the force which can be achieved ordinarily with elastomeric type connectors. The present invention is directed to the achievement of a connector intended for use between parallel circuit boards having conductors extending through the connector body with each conductor having an integral spring that is capable of producing a high contact force if desired.